How Financial Professionals Can Help Clients Do More with Short-Term Savings 

Financial professionals spend much of their time helping clients build wealth for long-term goals such as retirement, legacy planning and future income needs. However, some of the most valuable planning opportunities may come from a different type of asset altogether: money clients have already set aside for a specific goal that’s only a few years away.

Think about the goals clients commonly save for outside their retirement accounts and investment portfolios. A future vacation home. A wedding. A major purchase. These assets are often held in CDs, bonds, savings accounts or money market funds because clients know they’ll need the money soon and don’t want to expose it to significant market risk.

The challenge is that these dollars frequently remain outside the broader financial plan. Because they are often viewed separately from retirement and investment assets, clients may never mention them during planning conversations. For financial professionals, that creates an opportunity to uncover additional assets, gain deeper insight into client goals and provide more comprehensive guidance.

Not every dollar needs a long-term investment strategy

Many financial professionals naturally focus on assets intended for decades of growth. However, clients often have money earmarked for goals with much shorter time horizons. When clients indicate they’ll need the money within a few years, want to avoid the possibility of loss and still hope to achieve some growth, the conversation often changes.

Rather than concentrating solely on long-term accumulation, the discussion shifts to helping clients balance growth potential, stability and access to funds if plans change. These situations require a different approach. Instead of asking how to maximize returns, the more important question may be whether the current strategy aligns with the assets’ purpose and timeline.

Where the opportunity exists

Most clients already think they know where this money belongs. They’re likely to choose savings accounts, CDs, bonds or money market funds because those options feel familiar, predictable and straightforward.

While those vehicles may be appropriate in some situations, familiarity shouldn’t automatically end the discussion. The real opportunity lies in understanding what the money is intended to accomplish.

When clients have assets designated for a future goal, financial professionals can explore questions such as:

• When will the money likely be needed?
• How important is growth versus stability?
• Could tax treatment or tax penalty affect the outcome?
• How much flexibility might be necessary if plans change?
• Does the current vehicle still align with the intended goal?

Those questions shift the conversation from products to planning. They also create opportunities to uncover assets that may not currently be part of a client’s overall strategy.

Just as importantly, many clients mentally separate short-term savings from their investment assets. As a result, they may never bring these dollars up unless asked. By exploring the purpose behind those assets, financial professionals may uncover opportunities to provide additional value while helping clients make more informed decisions.

Why consider a MYGA?

When clients prioritize stability and have a defined timeline for a future goal, a multi-year guaranteed annuity may deserve a place in the discussion.

Ameritas RateLock MYGA combines several characteristics clients often seek when setting aside money for a future objective, including a guaranteed interest rate for a selected period, principal protection, tax-deferred growth potential and access provisions if circumstances change.

While those features matter, the greater opportunity for financial professionals lies in what they can reveal about a client’s broader planning needs. Rather than centering the discussion on an annuity, it may be more productive to focus on the client’s objective and determine whether their current vehicle remains the best fit for that goal.

A client saving toward a specific milestone in three, five or seven years may place greater value on certainty than on pursuing additional market returns. In those situations, a MYGA can be part of a planning conversation focused on aligning a strategy with the client’s timeline and priorities.

Share this blog with your clients: Where to Keep Money Safe for the Short Term

A planning conversation clients can appreciate

Imagine a client who plans to purchase a vacation home in five years and has already set aside $200,000 for the down payment. The client wants growth but is uncomfortable exposing those assets to market fluctuations as the timeline approaches.

At first glance, that may seem like a straightforward savings conversation. In reality, it’s a planning conversation.

Three years into the client’s plan, a new family milestone arises: a grandchild is getting married, and the client would like to contribute $10,000 toward the wedding. The vacation home remains an important goal, but the client now has an additional priority to consider. Rather than choosing between the two objectives, the client wants to help with the wedding while staying on track for the future home purchase.

Situations like this highlight why growth and flexibility can both matter when positioning goal-based assets. With a five-year RateLock MYGA, the client can lock in a competitive guaranteed interest rate for the entire period, helping the money grow predictably as the vacation home purchase approaches. At the same time, the contract’s 10% free-withdrawal provision may allow the client to access the $10,000 needed for the wedding without surrender charges, helping address a new family priority while keeping the broader goal on track.

The discussion is bigger than the product

One of the biggest mistakes financial professionals can make is leading with a product rather than a planning need. Clients rarely wake up thinking they need an annuity or any other financial vehicle. Instead, they’re thinking about future goals, upcoming milestones and how to make the most of the money they’ve set aside.

Learn more: What Do Clients Want from a Financial Professional?

Beginning with the purpose of the assets often leads to a more meaningful conversation. When clients have money set aside for a specific goal and timeline and are seeking a balance between growth and protection, it creates a natural opportunity to evaluate whether their current strategy still aligns with their objectives.

Sometimes the existing vehicle may remain appropriate. Other times, a MYGA may offer advantages worth considering. Either way, the client benefits from a more comprehensive planning discussion.

Why this matters for your practice

Many financial professionals focus on investment assets and retirement accounts while unintentionally overlooking assets that clients have already set aside for future goals.

Yet these dollars can represent meaningful planning opportunities. By identifying purpose-driven assets and discussing factors such as timeline, taxes, growth expectations, access needs and risk tolerance, you position yourself as more than an investment manager. You become a planner who understands not only where clients want to go, but also what every dollar is intended to accomplish along the way.

That deeper understanding can strengthen client relationships, uncover overlooked assets, demonstrate value beyond portfolio management and create additional opportunities to align financial strategies with specific client goals.

The planning opportunity

Clients often have money set aside for future milestones that isn’t intended for long-term market growth. These assets may be sitting in familiar vehicles simply because clients haven’t explored other options, or because no one has revisited whether the original strategy still fits the goal.

For financial professionals, that creates an opportunity to uncover assets that may not currently be part of the planning process, gain deeper insight into client priorities and evaluate whether a different approach may better support the intended outcome. In some situations, a MYGA may be worth considering because it can offer a competitive guaranteed rate, tax-deferred growth potential and access features that align with a client’s timeline and objectives.

When the discussion begins with the purpose of the money rather than the product, it becomes easier to uncover planning opportunities that might otherwise be missed while helping clients feel more confident about the assets they’ve set aside for important future goals.